Feb 21 1962
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (2MB PDF)
At regular press conference, President Kennedy opened with a statement on space, saying: "It is increasingly clear that the impact of Col. Glenn's magnificent achievement yesterday goes far beyond our own times and our own country. The success of this flight, the new knowledge it will give us, and the new steps which can now be undertaken will affect life on this planet for many years to come.
"This country has received more than 30 messages of congratulations from other heads of state all over the world . . . . I want to express my thanks to them and at the same time pay tribute to the international cooperation entailed in the successful operation of the Mercury tracking network . . . .
". . . Chairman Khrushchev of the Soviet Union [suggested] . . . that it would be beneficial to the advance of science of our countries if our countries could work together in the exploration of space. I am replying to his message today . . . .
"We believe that when men reach beyond this planet they should leave their national differences behind them . . . .
"It has been said that peace has her victories as well as war, and I think all of us can take pride and satisfaction in this history of technology and the, human spirit."
Mercury officials debriefing Astronaut John H. Glenn at Grand Turk Island announced that he was in "excellent physical condition." Dr. Robert B. Voas, psychologist and training officer, said that it was "quite significant" that Glenn had been unable to detect any ill effects during almost five hours of weightlessness. Voas pointed out that longer flights Such as the 17 orbits of Cosmonaut Titov are required to document the physical effects of prolonged weightlessness.
In formal response to congratulatory note from Premier Khrushchev on the flight of FRIENDSHIP 7, President Kennedy said: ". . . I welcome your statement that our countries should cooperate in the exploration of space. . . We of course believe also in strong support of the United Nations in this field and are cooperating directly with many other countries individually.
"I am instructing the appropriate officers of this Government to prepare new and concrete proposals for immediate projects of common action, and I hope at a very early date our representatives may meet to discuss our ideas and yours in a spirit of practical cooperation." NASA announced plans to attempt to launch 440-lb. Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO) containing 13 experiments, within a week.
D. Brainerd Holmes, Director of NASA’s Office of Manned Space Flight, addressed the Engineers, Scientists, and Architects Day meeting, in which he said: "as a stimulus to our fervent interest in rocketry have been the realities of life in a world which is divided into two armed camps, one of which has the avowed intention of imposing its own way of life on free peoples everywhere. We are, in short, compelled to achieve and maintain leadership in space research and technology because our own fate as a free nation and, in fact, the fate of human civilization as we know it, will depend upon whether the spacecraft of the future are devoted to peaceful purposes or to the destruction of the human race . . ." Thomas F. Dixon, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator, in a speech on the Apollo Program at San Jose, California, outlined NASA's progression of flight programs leading to goal of a manned lunar mission before 1970, relating the X-15, Ranger, Surveyor, Mercury, Gemini, and rocket propulsion developments to the Apollo Program.
Dr. Orr E. Reynolds, formerly head of the DOD's Office of Science, named Director of NASA’s Bioscience Programs in the Office of Space Sciences. During 1949-1957, Dr. Reynolds was Director of ONE's Biological Sciences Division.
In speech to National Conference on Application of Electrical Insulation, Gen. Bernard A. Schriever (USAF) pointed to the lessons of history: ". . . Our boldest predictions do not keep very far ahead of technical developments.
"A second lesson is that the advance of scientific and engineering knowledge is most effectively achieved through joint effort. The growth of military airpower has owed much to the scientific and industrial community . . . . I think we can predict the same mutual benefits in space exploration . . ." USAF announced that an unnamed satellite had been launched by a Thor-Agena B booster from Vandenberg AFB.
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